Lower Back Pain Advice

T

Tootles

Cathlete
I am 27 and have experienced recurring lower back pain since my teens. It is not severe or incapacitating, but it does make my lower back feel very stiff and I find it difficult and painful to bend over, squat on my heels, or sit on a low seat. The pain is not an everyday thing, but seems to crop up after certain activities and can linger from a few hours to a couple days. I'd like to fix it now before it causes major problems as I get older!

Some background information:
  • I first began noticing low back stiffness after spending an extended period on my feet, such as after walking around a mall for an hour. I usually only get the pain if I was strolling slowly on a hard surface, not after I spent an hour running or doing a workout.
  • I have been studying Muay Thai for a year and I sometimes experience lower back pain/stiffness after doing a lot of boxing. Our boxing form requires us to stand slightly curled forward with our stomachs crunched in, so it's probably the posture that causes it here.
  • I visited a physical therapist a few months ago to get custom orthotics to correct for my dropped first metatarsal (which was causing pain in my peroneal longus and IT band). I mentioned the lower back pain to him as well and he pointed out that my hip flexors are a little tight and that could be straining the muscles of my lower back. He gave me some stretches to do, but it doesn't feel like my hip flexors are tight.
  • Lunges and squats do not hurt, but deadlifts are difficult. I have had my boyfriend spot me to make sure I am keeping my back flat, but I still can't go down much below my knees without feeling soreness in my lower back later. Again, it usually only hurts after the fact, not during the move.
  • I'm pretty flexible. I can get my hands flat on the floor in a forward fold without feeling pain. However, the camel yoga pose and the one where you stand and lean back with your arms extended cause me to hurt after I go out of the move. I can do the move, but then when I straighten up again my lower back is really stiff.
  • I think my core is in pretty good shape, aside from this occasional pain. I can do all of Cathe's ab workouts and plank moves just fine (except for some of the stability ball ones in Ab Circuits - those suckers are HARD!).
  • I'm 5'5", 130lbs, and have been working out regularly for the last 4 years. I have been doing Cathe's workouts an average of 5-6 times a week for the last 2 years. I also did a lot of running and a couple mud runs/5k obstacle courses last summer without any ill effects.

My current plan of attack is to continue doing extra stretching (but taking it a little easy on that camel pose!) and to do some exercises to strengthen my lower back muscles. Except I don't know what stretches I should do, or what strength-building exercises I should focus on. I would really appreciate any suggestions!
 
This sounds just like my problem. Exactly! I've been to several doctors, had X-rays and an MRI, and they can't find anything wrong. I would love to hear of someone who has some answers.
In addition to the moves you already mentioned, anything move that is supine and uses long lever legs just KILLS my lower back. I can't lower my legs to the floor without bending my knees, but that's the only type of core move I have trouble with.
 
You sound like me!! I'm in the middle of an ouchie stretch that flared up the other day. Finally had an MRI done last summer, after years of messing with it.

2 compresses discs, and a bulging disc in my lumbar spine, and a slipped disc between the last lumbar and 1st sacral vertebrae. And arthritis through the lumbar spine. Doc, I told you it hurt!!!!

I was marathon training when the last bout flared up (and am about to start again) I had vicodin at night for the really bad nights, and advil during the day for really bad days - 4 at time, 3x a day.

Other options are a cortisone injection (they've never worked on other woes) or surgery to correct the disc problem. Spinal surgery scares me, so no thanks, unless it gets really bad.

Deadlifts are the worst for me, so I try to avoid those, or go really light. Other than that, I just try to deal with it and play through. Normally once I get warmed up and moving, I'm ok. It's afterwards that's bad.

Not a whole lot of advice, but I feel your pain!

Nan
 
Ouch, Nan! You've got it way worse than me. I don't need pain medication so far. I just curse a lot when it crops up and find myself moving like a creaky old lady.

I do try to stick to lighter weights and not going down as far for deadlifts. I overdid it a bit on Total Body Trisets last Thursday and was stiff and sore until Sunday, with occasional twinges of very sharp pain if I moved it wrong (such as twisting while rolling over in bed). I will be more careful next time! However, it's usually more of a dull pain and lots of stiffness.

There's got to be some exercise out there I can try to strengthen or stretch whatever is causing the problem. I don't want to get to the point where I need medication!
 
hope some people have answers too, as I also suffer from lower back pain. I never had any injuries, it just started pulling out in my late teens/early twenties and now just comes and goes. This past year it's been getting a bit worse, sometimes hurting for over a month at a time. One week it was so bad I could hardly get out of bed, but I just climbed out to go to the bathroom and feed my cats and took some aspirin. It sucks when it puts my workouts on hold.

sorry no advice, but it's nice to know I'm not alone with the back pain!
 
I went through a bout of acute back pain, I did go to a chiropractor but in all honestly, I felt my progress came more from doing the Classical Stretch series, you can DVR them on PBS or buy the DVDS (I do both). The instuctor is Miranda Esmonde-White. She was a ballerina who had injuries and after working her way back to health, she started teaching others her method that combines ballet, yoga, tai chi and other techniques. Her stretching is more like a mini workout mixed with the best stretching ever. She also sells a DVD just for back pain on her website. My only complaint, the shipping is really over priced, but if you buy 3 items it's free, but still I don't agree with their shipping prices. Classical Stretch

I am still new at these, but have been enjoying season 6 on dvd, and the season 8 episodes I have from pbs. Season 7 seems to have 2 very split camps of opinions, so to start, I personally would stay away from 7. The first season was probably the best one to get for better instruction and learning the techniques. One day I might go back to that one, I have not bought it yet. She also has all these Vintage workouts that seem to be popular, but I have not gotten to those yet either.

I know a lot of people don't like taking meds, but for me, after things stopped progressing, I started taking a prescription anti inflammatory twice a day for a couple weeks, and it worked like magic. As my doctor said, I could not heal the inflammation if it was always inflamed, she said it better, but I think you get the drift. So right now I am pain free, and working slowly back into more intense workouts again.

Good luck with whatever direction you take, hope you get a chance to check out Classical Stretch, it really did wonders for me, and hopefully you can find it free on PBS.
 
I had really bad back pain due to imbalanced/tight muscles, a bulging disc and a fractured spine. I tried lots of things including lots of stretching but that didn't seem to help. I found a women who did bodywork and she did something called the Graston Technique along with other things. The Graston Technique made a huge difference for me.
 
I suffer from moderate sciatica from time to time and doing the exercises in the following videos have helped me:


Yoga Therapy for Back Pain with Emily Kligerman


Amazon.com: Viniyoga Therapy for the Low Back, Sacrum & Hips with Gary Kraftsow: Gary Kraftsow, Ian Albert and Mark Holmes: Movies & TV

They might be too easy for someone that is in good condition though.


I have a full time desk job where I don't take a lunch and I think my problems are due to sitting down in one position for that extended time period.

But get a proper diagnosis before you attempt any self therapy-is it joint,tendon, nerve or muscle pain? As a runner you could be suffering from tight hamstrings....
 
Thanks again everyone for the advice. I will definitely try out some of the simple stetching/yoga videos everyone suggested. And I promise that if those don't help, or if it ever increases from an irritating ache to a very painful one that requires pain killers, I will see a doctor. I'm just procrastinating on that for now since I have very minimal health insurance.

Happy belated New Year, and healthy strong backs to all!
 
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